Sounding the Islanders’ Arrival in Brooklyn

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On each side of the arena facing center ice, three trumpetlike goal horns, which have the same sound as some subway horns, blare three times when the Islanders score.CreditSam Hodgson for The New York Times

By Allan Kreda

Sept. 29, 2015

As the Islanders approach their first regular-season game at Barclays Center on Oct. 9, the arena experience is a work in progress as team and arena officials try to find the right mix of Long Island and Brooklyn.

The Islanders’ final home preseason game Monday night, only their fifth contest at their new home since the move to Brooklyn from Nassau County was announced almost three years ago, featured a fresh audio touch: a new goal horn straight from the subway.

“When you think about how best to embody what New York City is all about, the subway is one of the first things that comes to mind,” said Kevin Ortiz, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which partnered with Barclays Center on the project. “What better way to celebrate an Islanders goal than to blow a genuine subway horn?”

On each side of the arena facing center ice, three dark gray trumpetlike horns hang near the ceiling and blare three times when the Islanders score. Kirill Petrov finally gave the new sound effect an opportunity to debut, scoring the only goal for the home team at 18 minutes 9 seconds of the third period in an otherwise lackluster 3-1 loss to the Washington Capitals.

The Islanders’ New Subway Goal Horn

At Barclays Center three dark gray trumpetlike horns hang near the ceiling and blare three times when the Islanders score.

“I liked the horn sound, but it needs to be louder,” said Eddie Wiatrak, an Islanders fan since 1977 from Staten Island, who is especially happy with his shorter commute to home games this season. “New is good.”

The horns are activated by a wireless remote when the Islanders score, and the sound belongs to the R160 class of trains, one of the newer models in the fleet. They are featured on at least three of the 11 subway routes that run near Barclays. There is also the Long Island Rail Road, which will have extra trains to and from home games.

Fans who wanted to voice their displeasure took to Twitter shortly after the goal horn made its debut, using the hashtag #KeepOurGoalHorn.

Many simply requested the goal sound stay the same as it was at Nassau Coliseum.

The sound of the new goal horn belongs to the R160 class of trains. They are featured on at least three of the 11 subway routes that run near Barclays.CreditSam Hodgson for The New York Times

The transit theme is central to the team’s move to Brooklyn from Nassau County, and it is already extending to the players, who rode the L.I.R.R. from Mineola to morning practice on Monday instead of making the traditional short drive to Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale.

“I feel like a real New Yorker now, riding the train to work,” Islanders forward Frans Nielsen said with a smile.

Nielsen and his teammates have a spacious new locker room and plush lounges at Barclays, but they continue to admit that game day feels strange.

“It’s still a little weird,” said Nielsen, 31, the longest-tenured Islander. “You know the season is coming, and you’re trying to get a feel for everything. It’s tough to say how the atmosphere will be. We won’t really know until opening night.”

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The horns are activated by a wireless remote when the Islanders score.CreditSam Hodgson for The New York Times

“I’m liking most everything so far at Barclays, except I will miss the tailgating,” said Wiatrak, a season-ticket holder along with his friend Paul Malec.

The Barclays Center chief executive, Brett Yormark, who has overseen the Islanders’ transition to Brooklyn, as he did with the Nets when they moved from New Jersey in 2012, is enthusiastic about the team’s debut.

“We’ve been working very diligently to introduce the Islanders the right way,” he said. “We have to be sensitized to the faithful — those that have been there from Day 1. At the same time, for this move to Brooklyn to be successful and viable, we have to complement the fan base that exists. We have to reach out to fans in Brooklyn and beyond and get them engaged.”

The building and its environs have certainly become more visibly connected to hockey in recent weeks. Images of Islanders players adorn the atrium outside the arena, the subway station and a nearby shopping center. Islanders apparel, both the traditional orange and blue sweater and the new black and white third jersey, are stocked in team stores throughout the arena.

“There are 60,000 cars that go through the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush,” Yormark said, referring to the daily traffic flow outside Barclays. “We want to make sure to get people truly engaged. Anyone not aware this team is coming to Brooklyn, hopefully now they are.”

Nearby at the Brooklyn Historical Society, there is an exhibition until March featuring the lineage of hockey in the borough dating to 1925 with the Brooklyn Americans.

But inside the arena, challenges remain. There are hundreds of seats with obstructed views. The longtime Nassau Coliseum organist Paul Cartier is closer to the ice at Barclays than he was on Long Island, but he cannot see the net below him from his keyboard. He has to look at the giant scoreboard screen.

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The Islanders' Kirill Petrov, center, after scoring in the third period against the Capitals during a preseason game at Barclays Center on Monday night. The Islanders lost, 3-1.CreditBruce Bennett/Getty Images

Sparky the Dragon, the popular furry mascot at Nassau Coliseum, did not make the move to Brooklyn. Neither did the skating Ice Girls, another longtime staple.

But plenty of elements from Long Island will be present in Brooklyn. Four Stanley Cup banners are already hanging in the arena. They will be joined on opening night by retired player jerseys, division and conference banners, and those honoring the former coach Al Arbour — who died last month — and the former general manager Bill Torrey, architects of the championship run from 1980 to 1983.

Yormark said he had been heartened that 30 percent of the “total buyer universe” of ticket sales had come from Nassau and Suffolk counties. That is in addition to 33 percent from Brooklyn and Manhattan. He promised to be sensitive to the fans, given how important tradition is to generations who have watched the Islanders.

“Probably our biggest mistake was thinking I could overly Brooklynize the team,” Yormark said. “Fans were very outspoken about not changing the primary jersey — home and away. After hearing from all the fans we decided, no, we can’t touch that. That’s sacred ground.”

The Islanders will wear the third jersey 12 times at home. The black and white motif mimics the color scheme of the Nets, who will be starting their fourth season in Brooklyn in late October.

“Our third jersey cements the team in Brooklyn,” Yormark said. “Black and white are truly the colors of the borough.”

The players wonder if they will garner the same home advantage they enjoyed at the Coliseum, where they won 25 of 41 games last season on their way to 101 points.

“We’ll see how the atmosphere is, noise level and everything,” right wing Kyle Okposo said. “The ice is different and the feel of the rink is a lot different — just things you have to get used to in a new home. At the end of the day, you have to go out and play the game.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page B14 of the New York edition with the headline: Sounding Their Arrival in Brooklyn . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe